(Update: specs, pricing) Report: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 might be Edge Display only

Update (June 22nd)

Just hours after the original story went live, a new leak emerged, this time discussing specs. European availability and pricing. The source is GSMHelpdesk who, in an exclusive story, claims the following:

Specs: The Galaxy Note 7 is now expected to have a 5.8-inch QHD dual-edge Super AMOLED display, a faster Exynos 8 SoC variant, 6GB of RAM, an improved 12-megapixel camera with dual-pixel phase-detection autofocus, and a 4,000 mAh battery.

Release: The report reaffirms the rumored August 2nd launch date, and indicates that the phablet will be in stores in the Netherlands around the second or third week of the month.

Price: The new report specifies that the phone will retail for 799 Euros, or roughly $905 US. It should be noted that prices in Europe are often significantly higher than they are in the United States and thus this should not be taken as a final price, or even necessarily a ball-park figure.

Finally, in a separate report by etnews, it was posted that Samsung is expected to use the same OLED materials used in the Galaxy S7 for the Note 7.

With July fast approaching, there are only a few short weeks before the annual announcement of this year’s Galaxy Note, with multiple reports pegging an August 2nd launch. The device is said to be settling with the number 7 for counting convention due to a desire from Samsung to align it with the Galaxy S7 flagship’s numbering.

In recent weeks, news – and pictures – have been circulating that indicate 2016 will see an Edge model of the Note, with a design just like that of the Galaxy S7 Edge, not the more productive-purposed 2014 Galaxy Note Edge. It has been widely assumed Samsung would make both a standard variant and a curved one. Today however, a report has emerged from Korea that suggests only the latter will land.

The news comes via The Korea Herald; the story states Samsung will be releasing the Galaxy Note 7 as an Edge model, with the key line being:

According to local daily Munwha Ilbo, Samsung is not considering launching a flat screen version of the Note phone.

While it’s entirely possible the rumor is not correct, assuming it is would mean several things:

1. Samsung does not feel a standard Note would be competitive.
2. Samsung believes there is true value added by the curved sides.
3. Samsung would seemingly have no standard affair flagship phablet offering in 2016.

Perhaps more importantly, this would come at a time when the Korean OEM is seen as trying to recover from the fall-out that occurred with last year’s removal of microSD support. Unfortunately, many people are not sold on the whole curved creativity aspect, either for personal reasons, handling concerns, or price issues, and thus forcing it upon them would seemingly burn a whole new set of bridges.

Assuming this all pans out, an even larger question must be asked: What will happen to the standard Galaxy S models? There have been many reports in the past year indicating the curved variants are more popular, but would Samsung actually phase out the regular one in 2017? Would it release two different sized S8 Edge models?

Still, this could be a strategy used to definitively differentiate the next Note, especially among a sea of similar smartphones. Even Apple has gotten into the bigger is better business, but neither it – nor virtually anyone else – currently have products with curved displays.

What do you think? Could Samsung actually spurn its standard shaped smartphone?